Director - Gair Morris
Gair Morris has been working with young people since he himself was a teenager—from taking care of thirteen nieces and nephews to instructing dance, gymnastics and rock climbing in his native Colorado.
“I’ve always gravitated towards teaching children,” he says. With nearly two decades of instructional experience under his belt, Gair is in charge of designing, updating and evaluating New York Kids Club curriculum. He also hires and trains the enthusiastic and expert faculty.
Gair arrived at the New York Kids Club in October 2001, as a rock-climbing, gymnastics, and dance instructor. Since then, he’s been hard at work on the clubs’ unique, in-house curriculum and helping the roster of classes—and locations—expand dramatically.
When figuring out how to design a class, Gair evaluates the kinds of physical, mental, emotional, and social growth it will foster. “Each point of the curriculum will enrich children on all levels,” he says. “For instance, dance classes have a mental stimulation, physical workout, and body awareness aspect, however, they also have music appreciation, learning to share, and the social aspect of confidence.”
Gair and the educators make extra sure that each class is developmentally appropriate for the relevant age group. He takes care to receive as much parent feedback as possible and constantly sit in on classes to observe how students and instructors interact and which material most inspires, excites, and stimulates the students. "We look for how much joy the student is getting out of that particular class while at the same time ensuring the students are learning basic skills,” he says.
Gair takes care to staff members who go beyond experience and knowledge in their field. “There’s a difference between loving children and loving to teach children,” he says. He encourages staff members to train across disciplines and grow their own skills—a rock climbing instructor can assist a cooking class and maybe learn to teach one as well.
Gair’s favorite parts of the job are the moments when he gets to interact with the children, he says all the hard work is more than rewarded by “the light they bring to class every day.”
